Do: Oxygen Freejumping

Acton’s latest addition to the neighbourhood has people literally jumping for joy. London’s only trampoline park opened its doors on Monday, to the glee of children and adults alike. Instead of bouncing off the walls at home this summer, now kids can jump off the walls at Oxygen Freejumping.

Located in the industrial estate behind the Vue Cinema and the bowling alley, it’s easily accessible by car with limited free parking or a short walk from West Acton or Park Royal tube.

The 27,000-square-foot facility has a variety of trampolines (including professional ones for classes), a foam-pit obstacle course, tightrope walking, basketball hoops, airbags as well as a swanky café.

Normal freejumping sessions last for an hour, or you can opt for one of their structured classes: family bounce sessions, fitness classes in the park and on rebounders in the modern ‘O Fitness’ studio, a professional trampolining academy for aspiring gymnasts, and ‘Teen Takeovers’—two hours of strobe-lit bouncing with a live DJ.

If freerunning and parkour are more your style, Oxygen has partnered with freerunning founder Sébastien Foucan—yes, the actor in the first scene of Casino Royale. Together with Oxygen he’s offering adults and kids a Foucan-style 3,000-square-foot obstacle course through which to navigate and practice their skills.

On our recent visit, I found it hard to pull my daughter away from the foam pit, which has an obstacle course of challenges—a tight rope, a balance beam, ropes and a wall to climb, all surrounded by foam bricks in case you fall. There’s always next time to master the tightrope!

The trampoline runway with a crash landing into an airbag was another hit. It does take a bit of getting used to and ‘letting go’ as you propel yourself (or for that matter let your child propel themselves) into a huge airbag. I particularly loved the trampoline basketball and could easily be an NBA contender if it became an official sport—slam-dunk every time.

From a safety perspective, they allow only one person on a trampoline at a time, and staff were monitoring each section ensuring all the rules were being followed. They also supply special socks that have adhesive on the bottom (they cost £2 and you keep them), so no need to bring your own. Wear comfy and flexible clothes.

If you’re more of a spectator than a jumper, the café overlooks the trampolines, so you can enjoy a coffee while your kids bounce to their hearts’ content. After an hour of leisurely jumping, it was sadly time to go. Dripping with sweat, we gulped some water and headed home. This is definitely an activity the whole family can enjoy together, and it doesn’t hurt that it’s also a great workout.